ABSTRACT The author examines the Jungian concept of the archetype of the Self, equating the role of the white lion as an “ordering principle” in nature with the Self as the regulating center in the human psyche. The lions’ deep-rooted symbolic and mythological significance is considered, with specific emphasis on the importance of white animals in spiritual traditions. Her hypothesis is contextualized in an ecological perspective, which demands a fundamental interconnectedness—as is implicit in the South African concept of Ubuntu. The numinosity of the sacred hunt is juxtaposed with the great myth of “The Infernal Hunt” in which the accursed hunter perpetually chases transitory worldly objects driven by an insatiable urge. The author further explores the concept of Wetiko—a cannibalistic spirit driven by insatiable greed and selfish excessive consumption without regard for others, thereby cannibalizing the life-force. She arrives at the significant conclusion that “canned hunting,” a grotesque caricature of the sacred hunt where lions are killed for trophies in organized fenced-in circumstances, is a cannibalizing of the Self and a desecration of nature.

中文翻译：

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白狮作为自我原型的象征和罐头狩猎中的自我蚕食

摘要 作者考察了荣格的自我原型概念，将白狮作为自然界“秩序原则”的角色与作为人类心理调节中心的自我等同起来。考虑到狮子根深蒂固的象征意义和神话意义，特别强调白色动物在精神传统中的重要性。她的假设是在生态视角下进行的，这需要一种基本的相互联系——正如南非的 Ubuntu 概念所隐含的那样。神圣狩猎的神秘性与“地狱狩猎”的伟大神话并列，在这个神话中，被诅咒的猎人在永不满足的冲动的驱使下永远追逐短暂的世俗物体。作者进一步探讨了Wetiko的概念——一种被贪得无厌的贪婪和自私的过度消费所驱使的食人精神，不顾他人，从而蚕食生命力。她得出了一个重要的结论，即“罐头狩猎”，这是对在有组织的围栏环境中杀死狮子以获得奖杯的神圣狩猎的怪诞漫画，是对自我的蚕食和对自然的亵渎。